Background: The development of highly efficacious alternatives to mu-opioid analgesics represents an urgent unmet medical and public health need. In the presence of inflammation both deltaand kappa-opioid agonists, acting on peripheral sensory neurons, mediate analgesia. The dualacting, peripherally restricted kappa/delta-opioid agonist, CAV1001, was tested in four rodent pain models. Methods: Experiment 1-Formalin testing in mice. Three doses (1-10 mg/kg) of CAV1001 or ICI204448 at 30 minutes were tested after formalin injection. Spontaneous nocifensive responses were video recorded. Experiment 2-Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritis. CFA was injected into the ankle joint of rats. Joint compression thresholds (JCT) were measured. CAV1001 was compared to celecoxib. Experiment 3-Spinal nerve ligation (SNL) in rats. Paw compression thresholds (PCT) were measured. CAV1001 was compared to gabapentin. Experiment 4-MMRT-1 bone cancer implantation into the rat tibia. Weightbearing was assessed. CAV1001 was compared to morphine. Results: In Phase 2 of the formalin model, CAV1001 (1 mg/kg) significantly reduced pain behaviors to a degree comparable to the peripherally restricted kappa-opioid agonist, ICI204448 (10 mg/kg). CAV1001 (10 mg/kg) effectively eliminated pain behaviors associated with phase 2. In the CFA-induced arthritis model, a significant increase in JCTs, similar to the comparator celecoxib, was observed with CAV1001 at 1 mg/kg at 2 hours; CAV1001 (10 mg/kg) was effective at 1 hour. In the SNL model, both the comparator gabapentin and CAV1001 (5 mg/kg) significantly reduced PCT at 2 hours, but at 4 hours, the CAV1001 thresholds improved to baseline. CAV1001 10 mg/kg significantly improved weight bearing at 4-hour post-dosing compared to baseline following MMRT-1 implantation. Conclusion: CAV1001 demonstrated efficacy in several different preclinical pain models. Time-and dose-dependent differences in the efficacy of CAV1001 amongst these rodent pain models parallel the degree of underlying inflammation.

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